Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Musings: Dirty Dirt

August
— already. It's a month that opens and closes on a full moon,
giving us a once in a blue moon chance to do something really
extraordinary. Or not.

So
the state Department of Health has figured out what to do with the
arsenic- and dioxin-contaminated soil that was found up at Kilauea
two years ago. It plans to ship the dirty dirt — some 500 to 600 cubic
yards — over to the landfill at Kekaha.

Does
anyone else see the irony in dumping soil made toxic by plantation
pesticides over on the westside, where the GMO seed companies with
their heavy chem use are currently engaged in the modern day version of soil
poisoning? We don't learn, do we? I mean, this shit don't die. It
just lingers for decades.

But
no worries, because even though five to six truckloads of contaminated dirt
per day will be transported across the island, DOH assures us that, “All construction, transport and soil activities will employ dust
suppression techniques to minimize dust emissions and limit nuisance
dust concerns. Although full dust control is anticipated, small
amounts of fugitive dust that may drift away from the site during
excavation will not pose a significant health risk.” Oh, and
they're gonna train the landfill guys, too.

Work
is supposed to start on Aug. 6 and will continue, Monday through
Saturday, for three weeks. Sounds like a good time to avoid Kilauea.
Unless, of course, you happen to live there. But hey, guys, just look
at it as a warm up for the construction noise and dust you'll get
when work begins on that new shopping center on Kilauea Lighthouse
Road you don't really want or need.

All
Kaiulani (Edens) Mahuka wants and needs is a little justice, but
she's given up hopes of finding that in the western legal system. I
had a chat with her yesterday afternoon, and we talked about her
recent sentencing for attempting to keep iwi kupuna from being dug
up during construction of bathrooms at Kaumualii Park in Wailua.
Mostly, she had a lot of questions.

For
example, her attorney, Charley Foster, recently resigned from her
case to take a job with the Office of Prosecuting Attorney —
writing appeals, and press releases (so I guess we know who was
behind that mean-spirited ear-licking attorney release).

“He
just filed my appeal, and now he does appeals for the prosecutor,”
Kaiulani said. “What does that mean? How long was he in
negotiations with the OPA for the job? Was it during my trial? My
sentencing? When he was working on my appeal?”

Kaiulani
also noted that Judge Trudy Senda had told her the state would pay
the higher cost of providing her with a criminal defense attorney, as
opposed to a regular old public defender, because she wanted a
sovereignty defense, “but sovereignty was the first thing they
threw out.”

I
must say, I did wonder when I saw Charley was representing Kaiu, as I
can recall some of the antipathy he expressed on his Planet Kauai
blog against the folks protesting the iwi desecretion at Naue. But
when I did a quick search of his blog, I found surprisingly few
references to her. Perhaps they've been purged.

However,
I did find this 2008 post that expressed his views on the sovereignty
movement:

To wish for a higher level of sovereignty than what the (unlikely to pass) Akaka Bill offers is definitly a predicament. It is politically unrealistic in Hawaii and politically impossible in the other 49 United States..... Ignoring (read outside/above) the law is another losing strategy.

Like
Tiananmen Square protests in China, a certain time came and
went for the Hawaiian Soverignty [sic] Movement in the early 90's .
There was a renaissance and recovery in Hawaiian music, culture, and
language. There was the "Apology Resolution." Momentum rose
and fell. Those revolutionary good times are distant history. The
movement has disintegrated into marginalized groups of 20 trying to
take over the Palace in different and separate ways; into
piggybacking causes like Superferry protests; into 30 people present
at Naue; into the same 20 people meeting at the end of Hanalei pier
year after year; into lip service from non Hawaiians who don't feel
personally threatened; into a few belligerent Tutus on Kauai; and
into something that is simply annoying.

Wait — he already did. Such a handy trait for an attorney, the ability to switch sides when somebody pays you.

Kaiulani
similarly wondered what it meant when Shay asked her to hold sign
after prosecuting her on the obstruction of government operations
charge. “Does this mean she wants to re-establish her friendship
with me? I'm just very puzzled by it.”

And
according to Kaiulani, Shay got a restraining order against a woman
who engaged in a “heated debate” with the prosecutor during one
of the recent public safety meetings held around the island.
Apparently the woman yelled at Shay, “You're evil.” Gee, too bad the newspaper didn't cover that one.

Anyway,
attorney Mark Zenger has been appointed to represent Kaiulani during
her appeal, a prospect she does not find heartening “because he
dropped the ball on me when I was arrested at Papaa Bay. The charges
were dismissed, but I never heard anything from him.”

“I
feel like a duck that's going round and round at a carnival and they
keep shooting at me,” she said.

Wow, Joan. It's a fascinating experience to become the subject of your condemnations. You're so sweet and personable in person. Something about getting you behind a screen and keyboard brings out the Spanish Inquisition in you.

Where to start? First, I'm not the only one in the office who writes press releases.

Next, I never expressed any antipathy toward anyone protesting iwi desecration at Naue. I covered that case with interest and my posts were neutral statements about the law and the proceeidngs. I was in fact touched by some of the emotional testimony by one expert brought in by those opposing the house.

The 2008 post that you quote was not written by me. There was another writer on that blog for a while. Notice it is signed by him, not me.

Interests and activities on a facebook page reflect items you've liked or follow. You have no idea whether that indicates a "position" one way or another. But I think you know that.

I can assure you there have been no heated debates at any of the public safety town hall meetings and nobody has shouted "you are evil" at anyone.

Shay obviously doesn't understand the meaning of living pono and how certain actions of her's fly in the face of really being pono. She needs a change in her campaign slogan. Another example of co-opting the culture for personal gain. Where was she when our alii iwi were being dug up and how is that pono? Hawaiian only when it suits her? Worst than a non-Hawaiian using the culture for personal gain.

Don't try for the sympathy, ploy, Charley, because you've taken plenty of cracks at me over the years in the blogosphere.

You can pretend you showed no antipathy toward the Naue protestors, and that your blogs were "neutral," but others of us recall differently. Your views may have changed when you covered the court proceedings, but those hearings came well after Kaiu was camping out at Naue.

Oh ho ho, Joan Conrow partaking in slander now? Careful Joan, 1st amendment protection of commentary on public figures only goes so far. In reading your blogs, i've seen multiple instances where I felt that the target of your ire had legitimate tort claims against you, and if any of those targets (you know who you are) approach me to take the case, I'll do it pro se.

"In reading your blogs, i've seen multiple instances where I felt that the target of your ire had legitimate tort claims against you, and if any of those targets (you know who you are) approach me to take the case, I'll do it pro se."

Good thing you posted anonymously. Otherwise, you'd have to sue Joan for negligently posting a ridiculous comment that exposes your incompetency (assuming that you are an attorney).

Shaylene is always calm and rational. Charley is right and you commenters are just plain mean and have no factual basis to assume that Shay would be anything but gracious and full of love and compassion for her fellow man, regardless of race, creed or color.

Shaylene is always calm and rational. Charley is right and you commenters are just plain mean and have no factual basis to assume that Shay would be anything but gracious and full of love and compassion for her fellow man, regardless of race, creed or color.

Kaiulani should file something against Foster. And against the court here for some serious conflicts and disbarring actions.

He seems like a quack. Always shooting his mouth off about things he has never scratched the surface. And he was doing it (in many instances giving legal advice) before he was licensed to practice law).

Him and WP would be a good match. They could incompetence themselves into a great disappearing act.

Or Dahilig because he knows what he's talking about. Another great choice for Planning Director, maybe if it's not too late we can ask Kusaka to be the new planning director. Now that would be a great choice, for who?

(Reuters) - Broiling heat blanketed much of the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday, exacerbating the region's worst drought in more than 50 years and devastating corn, soy and other vital crops.

From Chicago to St. Louis to Omaha, Nebraska, temperatures eclipsed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the National Weather Service (NWS) issued heat advisories across Midwest and mid-Atlantic states.

About 55 percent of the contiguous United States is in a drought, just as corn plants should be pollinating, a period when adequate moisture is crucial. The United States ships more than half of all world exports of corn, which is made into dozens of products, from starch and ethanol to livestock feed.

"We're moving from a crisis to a horror story," said Purdue University agronomist Tony Vyn. "I see an increasing number of fields that will produce zero grain."

The soonest rain is expected in the Midwest is the middle of next week, said Jason Nicholls, meteorologist for AccuWeather.

Does anyone remember when Kilauea had the banana virus? They truck all of the infected trees to Kekaha and we got the virus island wide.Now they are going to truck the dirt to Kekaha. This dirt can be a problem when it is airborn.

Yes another incompetent making a decision, just like lenny rapozo needing a 120k consultant to fix the kilauea gym. Why are you a director if you dont even know how to do your job, oh yeah i forgot you were the mayors campaign manager. What a frickin waste of taxpayers dollars.

I understand mayors and other elected officials need to appoint people to be department heads or support staff. As a taxpayer, I'd like the current mayor and other elected officials to appoint qualified people--not just their friends, or as a payoff in return for political favors.

We're past the point of listening to meaningless insults. If you haven't noticed, there are finally facts on the table the the grown ups are discussing. If you can't address yourself to an actual fact of consequence maybe you should go outside and play.

Fact of consequence: There is no written agreement between the prosecutor and Strategic Justice.

Fact of consequence: Special counsel said that the procurement code applies if public funds were expended.

Fact of consequence: Shay had a Pohaku booth and Pohaku paraphernalia at the farm fair.

Fact of consequence: Special Counsel made no mention of the booth and paraphernalia.

Fact of consequence: There has been no disclosure of the source of the funds for the booth and paraphernalia.

Fact of consequence: There has been no accounting of the money paid to Strategic Justice.

Questions: Why did the prosecutor fail to memorialize her agreement with Strategic Justice in writing? Was it bad lawyering on Shay's part or did she want the arrangement to be vague and unclear? Did the Special Counsel know about the booth and paraphernalia? Has there been an accounting of the money paid to Strategic Justice? Did Shay disclose all of the facts to the Special Counsel?

This is what the grand conspiracy with the notice of the FBI and the AG has been reduced to.

Funny, after Joan went after a few innocent people too many, she completely lost the handle on her narrative. Nobody believes her extreme pronouncements on this issue any more. Leveler heads have moved into the comment section. It is no longer a cesspool of hate.